Concert review: Gala: Mahler's Third (Singapore Symphony Orchestra)

The Guinness Book of World Records once listed Gustav Mahler's Third Symphony in D minor as the longest symphony ever written.

It has since been surpassed by Havergal Brian's rarely performed Gothic Symphony, but at over 100 minutes and in six movements, it remains the unsurpassed titan of the regular orchestral repertoire.

Even the term regular is relative, as this was only the second performance in the Singapore Symphony Orchestra's 37-year history.

The Singapore premiere took place in 2007, when the newly formed Singapore Symphony Children's Choir made its debut.

Conducted again by SSO Music Director Shui Lan, this perfor- mance showed that both orchestra and chorus had made considerable progress over the intervening years. One might even conclude that SSO has become a great Mahler orchestra.

Eight French horns boldly declared the first in a series of fanfares in the opening movement, a statement of intent that was to distinguish the evening's work.

Under Shui's firm guiding hand, the sprawling movement that was itself longer than most Mozart and Beethoven symphonies did not come across as a string of unrelated episodes.

Instead, the music flowed through its progression of marches, with brass, winds and percussion in full throttle. Allen Meek's solo trombone led the procession and the relentless pursuit of perfection was infectious, all the way through to tumultuous climax and dramatic close.

The second and third movements were shorter and lighter, with dance-like rhythms possessed with a rusticity that deliberately bordered on the provincial.

A fairytale-like atmosphere gave way to more earthy vibes with Jon Paul Dante's offstage trumpet solo, sure and unwavering, being the pivotal key. All this apparent light- heartedness was, characteristic of the Bohemian composer, tinged with a sense of menace and macabre.

If the first three movements gloried in the banal and commonplace, the next three were preoccupied with the spiritual and eternal.

Conducting completely from memory, Shui's interpretation has to be one of the great Mahler performances in living memory here. The audience, in stark contrast with the one that greeted the Israel Philharmonic just a week ago, was impeccably behaved.

Respectfully quiet between movements, it erupted with a chorus of bravos and a prolonged standing ovation at the end.

This audience came here for the music and their faith was justly reciprocated. There is hope for classical music here, after all.

Follow ST

The Straits Times

We have been experiencing some problems with subscriber log-ins and apologise for the inconvenience caused. Until we resolve the issues, subscribers need not log in to access ST Digital articles. But a log-in is still required for our PDFs.